... I need to be close to my family. I am retirement age, still working in Design Build in Sacramento, CA. USA. My partner, is younger, and 4 years away from full Social Security. We would WAnt to move together. Although unmarried, we have been together for 18 years. We WAnt to buy a cottage/house somewhere near to my children and KT's family. I've had the great good fortune to visit Ireland twice. Once nearly 20 years ago where Kev's family accepted me WArmly. Then Jeff and I went 12 years past, again, welcomed into Kevin's family. When first I went to ...

"How is life in the UK?" Depends what your expectations are? Personally I'm glad its behind me but then I'm born and bred country and an industrial dinosaur as a heavy engineer (mechanical). The remaining family over there range from white van girl, WAste recycling, health service, education and Chris's lad is high tec web Design and development. As the old story if your happy in your work your pretty happy anywhere. Other points depend on just where in the UK? Best of luck with the interview.

@omurchu Joe, good question, but kinda hard to answer 🙂 I've experienced that myself when I tried getting a job back home in Ireland while still living in the US. It WAsn't easy, I can tell you. But...that WAs quite some years ago, so maybe now that the world is more tech-connected, it might be easier. I've heard from people (some Irish citizens) on here over the years that they had a very tough time even getting interviews while being outside Ireland. Some gave up, and did what I think Francis is suggesting. Show up and hit the interview circuit hard. I ca ...

@moveclubadmin Hi Liam. In the reply from @gailardia you said that competition would be stiff for getting a job and a visa within 90 days. I'm a dual IRL/USA citizen but have not resided in Ireland (ever). How you do you think an potential employer would view me compared to @gailardia if everything else were equal? Thansks, Joe

... don't even consider licensing status of others in house!) expect to pay full coverage of 4,000 Euro a month for a lefthand drive --only Axa would give us coverage! Driver's license testing process $600+. Parking prices are very high in the cities, gas high everywhere. Car Issues: Automatics are much more expensive here and hard or impossible to find for many models. Most insurance companies WILL NOT cover lefthand drive cars (see Axa above)--BUT consider learning how to drive a manual with stick on the opposite side, a new car and new driving rules all at ...

Hi Sarah, This is a great topic, thank you for asking the question. Speaking from my own point of view I can tell you that each time I moved back home (twice), I couldn't say that I knew it WAs the right decision. We really just had a desire to do so, and said let's just do it. Worst case it doesn't work out, and we go back. Which also happened, twice! I get asked this a lot via email and over the phone too. People are so apprehensive. They've built up a great life abroad, have stability in their day to day life, but long for home. It's a very common theme ...

... works, in that you transfer the money to them, and they send it onto your Irish bank account. But all the signups and transfers happen through an app on my iphone. I am even able to login to my bank via the app so the transfer from my bank's point of view is that I am sending a payment online. The transfer rate is about 3-4% better than what the bank gives me, and the fee is $10 rather than $35 from my bank. I'm happy with it. Convenient, cheap, secure. If you WAnt to try it out, if you use this link, you will get a discount, and if enough of you use it, I ...

@lindarosewood - this is a great post! Really appreciate it you sharing your experience. I'm very curious if you listed any 401k amounts on your financial documentation? WAs Mr. O'Brien familiar with how the INIS would view/use the data or WAs he simply validating the numbers you provided? Thanks again! John

We met with Dave O'Brien of Quintas in Cork last week, and everything went fine. I paid him €250 and it WAs worth it for the peace of mind and the quality of his work. If he does this work while you are in Ireland, then there will be VAT. Since we aren't living in Ireland yet, he didn't charge it. dave.obrien@quintas.ie I encourage others to contact him for a similar service. I prepared a detailed pile of pdf'ed documents and sent them in an email a month ahead of time, with a detailed manifest for each attachment, so I made his work easy for him. When ...

Hi David, Not so sure about the need to rent for 6 months. I would definitely check all the banks before going down that route. Maybe one or 2 may be willing to lend to you if they look favourably on your financial history elsewhere in the EU. You might also WAnt to try a broker or 2 for that purpose. You may be surprised with your number or responses, but in my own personal experience it's the norm. Estate agents are notoriously difficult to deal with and get hold of in Ireland. Honestly, my own experience with 3 or 4 of them WAs terrible. It shouldn't be ...